LetsRun.com’s Preview Of The 2013 London Anniversary Games Diamond League Meet

The 2013 Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games meet will take place over two days – Friday and Saturday – in London later this week.

Because the World Championships start two weeks from Saturday, many of the top African distance runners are skipping this one completely.

That’s probably alright for the Brits as they like to water down some events so Westerners do well. There are plenty of opportunities in this one for that as a few of the distance events are brazenly lacking in international quality.

Nonetheless (or maybe because of that fact), there is plenty of reason for American fans to watch (and approximately 90% of our audience comes from America), as a ton of Americans race here, including Mary Cain, Jordan Hasay, Molly Huddle, Shannon Rowbury, Morgan Uceny, Galen Rupp, Matthrew Centrowitz, Dathan Ritzenhein, Nick Symmonds, Duane Solomon, and many more.

We preview the mid-d and distance action for you in the order that it occurs.

Note, because of vacation schedules, LetsRun.com may not provide its own recap of this meet. If it does show up, it will likely show up on Sunday. If you think you are capable of covering it like we normally do, email us.

This women’s 3,000 is a Diamond League event in London, meaning it counts towards the year end 3,000/5,000 Diamond League points race and offers a $10,000 first prize. However, there isn’t a single woman on the start list who has earned a point so far in the other DL races.

That’s good news for US fans as the leading entrants very well may be two of the US’s three entrants in the 5,000 for Worlds – 5,000 American record holder Molly Huddle and Shannon Rowbury. The third US entrant in Moscow, Kim Conley, is here as well, but we don’t expect her challenge for the win.

Updated: Gabrielle Anderson was one spot behind Rowbury in Monaco in a pr of 4:01.48 so she could be a factor here as well.

US 10,000 runner Jordan Hasay makes her Diamond League debut in this race as well. She’s certain to garner a ton of US Internet attention but she likely will be overmatched in this one. Hasay’s old college rival in Canada’s Sheila Reid, who has run 4:02 this year for 1,500, is here as well.

If Rowbury or Huddle don’t win, the winner is likely to be the one Kenyan in the field, 21-year-old Irene Cheptai, who was 5th at the Kenyan Trials. 5th at the Kenyan Trials sounds impressive but realize she was 11 seconds behind third. That being said, she did run a 14:50 5,000 at the Diamond League opener in Shanghai.

Spain’s 30-year-old Dolares Checa ran 14:46 in 2011 but only 15:17 this year.

The women’s 1,500 is another event lacking in top notch international talent but is one that is very much a must-watch event for American fans as it serves as the European debut for US teen sensation on the pro circuit, Mary Cain (Cain raced last year in Barcelona at World Juniors).

Cain races for the first time since her runner-up showing at the US trials and she very well could be the winner here. The leading entrant based on 2013 times is US champion Treniere Moser, who barely edged Cain at USAs. Moser was awful in Monaco last week, where she finished last, and will be looking to regain some momentum heading into Worlds.

Moser is the 13th fastest woman on the year at 4:02.85 but none of the top 12 are running in this one.

One star who is here is 2011 World #1 Morgan Uceny, who is hoping to get her first good result of 2013. Uceny ran a good 1,200 in Lausanne as she was still in the top 5 before fading to last. Will she put it all together here?

The person we expect to win the race is the person who was the runner-up in Lausanne, 20-year-old Ethiopian Sifan Hassan. She’s lowered her PR from 4:08.24 to 4:03.73 this year.

There are two other African-born runners in the field who should be watched. 32-year-old Btissam Lakhouad, who was 4th at Worlds in 2011, has been struggling this summer and was a DNF in Lausanne.

21-year-old Betlhem Desalegen, who now competes for the United Arab Emirates, is racing in this one as well.

Katie Mackey of the US at 4:04.60 has the fourth fastest season’s best in the field and could be a factor.

Quick Take #1: Our eyes will be firmly glued on Cain, Moser and Uceny.

Others that would like to upend Martinez include 2013 NCAA indoor and outdoor champion Natoya Goule of LSU/Jamaica as well as British champ Marilyn Okaro and British runner-up Jessica Judd. Judd will also be looking to avenge her loss from last year at World Juniors toUS Moscow team member Ajee Wilson, whoraces here as well. Last year at World Juniors, Wilson won and Judd was second.

The lone African runner in the field is Kenya’s Nelly Jepkosgei. The 22-year-old was fourth at the Kenyan Trials and has a 2:00.19 PR.

Believe it or not, 2013 US champion Duane Solomon is the fastest man on the year so far this year. US runner-up Nick Symmonds is the fourth-fastest and US third placer Brandon Johnson is sixth.

They’ll duke it out here along with the fourth placer at the Kenyan Trials, 22-year-old Job Kinor, who missed going to Moscow by just .02.

US 5th placer Tyler Mulder is down to 1:44.34 on the year. Could he soon be a member of the sub-1:44 club as well?

Quick Take #1: How do Symmonds and Solomon look here? That will be our focus. Solomon won his first DL meet last week in Monaco and with another win here, he very well might be a co-favorite for Worlds along with Ethiopia’s Mohamed Aman. Don’t discount Symmonds though. He beat Solomon after USAs in Edmonton.

10:16AM ET Sat.: Men’s Mile (DL Event): Souleiman Leads A Field That Is Stacked Full Of Americans Led By Galen Rupp And Matt Centrowitz

A ridiculously large field of 19 is entered in this one.

It’s led by Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman, who is having an outstanding year. He currently sits at #3 on the 2013 World 800 list (1:43.63), #4 on the mile list (3:50.40) and #9 on the 1,500 list (3:32.55).

But US fans will be paying close attention to this one as it features World Championships medal hopefuls Matt Centrowitz and Galen Rupp.

The main rival on paper to Souleiman might very well be 2011 bronze medalist Matt Centrowitz of the US. He ran 3:33.58 in Monaco last week. Does he continue to improve here?

Rupp and Centrowitz may not even be the top American in this race. Jordan McNamara has quietly been running very well in Europe so far this year. He’s the third fastest American on the year at 3:34.00 and has a nasty close over the last 200. If he is close with 200 to go, watch out. Garrett Heath (3:34.12), David Torrence (3:34.19) and Andy Bayer (3:34.37) also have been putting up fast times in non-DL European races so far this year.

The top Kenyan to watch for is either the 4th placer in the 5,000 at the Kenyan Trials, Augstine Choge, or Collins Cheboi, who is the sixth-fastest man in the world this year at 1,500 (3:31.53)

This Diamond League steeple only has one entrant with a seasonal best under 8:10 and three under 8:20.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t some quality in the field. The field is led by 2008 Olympic champ Brimin Kipruto. We’re surprised the Kenyans left him off the World Championships team as he was third at the Kenyan Trials and the Kenyans get to run four at Worlds. Had he not been tripped at the Olympics last year, we think he’d have two Olympic medals to his name.

We imagine he’ll get a nice $10,000 consolation check here, but if he runs fast, the Kenyans should boot Paul Kipsiele Koech off the team and put Kipruto on it.

If Kipruto doesn’t win, we imagine the winner will either be the one sub-8:10 guy in the field, 19-year-old Gilbert Kirui, who was the runner-up at World Juniors last year or 20-year-old Jairus Birech. Birech was fourth at the Kenyan Trials and Kirui was fifth.

The third and fourth placers at USAs are here in De’Sean Turner and Andrew Poore, as is two-time NCAA champ Matt Hughes of Canada.

Quick Take #1: Why was Kipruto left off the Kenyan team in favor of Paul Kipsiele Koech? Koech’s excuse is he doesn’t run well at altitude, so if we were the Kenyans, we’d at least have had them race here with the winner going to Worlds.